Netflix dual subtitles: what works on Chrome, Safari, iPhone and TV

#netflix #tutorial #productivity #a11y

Netflix's help page covers one audio and one subtitle language. Chrome extensions add a second line on a computer; Safari, phones, tablets and TVs need another way.

URL: https://freelivecaption.com/en/posts/netflix-dual-subtitles
Published: 2026-10-11
Updated: 2026-10-11
Author: Yuki Tanaka (https://freelivecaption.com/en/about)
Topic: Videos (https://freelivecaption.com/en/topics/video)

Summary

Netflix's help page covers one audio language and one subtitle language. Two subtitle lines at once need a Chrome extension on a computer.
The Language Reactor, Dual Subtitles and Multi-Subtitles listings are Chrome Web Store pages, and none mentions Safari, iPhone or iPad.
On iPhone, iPad, Android and TV, set an audio language and a different subtitle language in the player's Audio & Subtitles menu.
On a Mac, Apple Live Captions (Apple silicon only) captions the audio. Vocena adds a translation under each line, and translation is a paid feature.

What Netflix's own menu covers

During playback, tap or click the screen on a phone, tablet or computer. On a TV or streaming box, press the up or down arrow on the remote; on Apple TV, swipe up or press the up arrow. Then choose Audio & Subtitles. That is the menu described in Netflix's help page on audio and subtitles, and the page gives no way to show two subtitle languages at once. It also says languages differ by title and that some shows lack SDH subtitles for every season or episode.

Start the title you plan to watch and look at that menu first. If the language you want as the second line isn't listed there, an extension has nothing to show (see the fix further down).

Two subtitle lines in Chrome on a computer

Browser extensions put a second subtitle language on the player. Three are listed on the Chrome Web Store:

Language Reactor adds dual-language subtitles, a popup dictionary and playback controls on Netflix, and it also works on YouTube. Its Chrome Web Store listing names Google Chrome on desktop and laptop computers running Windows and macOS, and it shows in-app purchases, so some features cost money. Pick this one if you're studying a language. If you'd like to compare it with similar tools first, see Language Reactor alternatives.
Dual Subtitles shows two languages on Netflix, Apple TV+, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. Its listing says you can change position, size, colour, font and background for each line separately, and it shows no price. Pick this one if you only want two clean lines.
Netflix Multi-Subtitles 2.0 is Netflix-only and free. The listing shows it was last updated on 30 November 2022, so read the recent reviews before you trust it with today's Netflix page.

To set one up:

Open Chrome on Windows or a Mac and add the extension from its listing.
Start a title on Netflix and open Audio & Subtitles. Confirm that both languages you want are there.
Switch the extension on for the page. In Dual Subtitles you choose the two languages from the ones the player already offers. Multi-Subtitles has an activation step, then layout and font-size settings for both lines.
Move or resize the lines until neither covers the picture. You should now see two lines of text at the bottom of the video.

If the second line doesn't appear: The Dual Subtitles listing says it needs subtitles that already exist on the service and doesn't get around DRM, paywalls or sign-in, so a language missing from Netflix's menu won't show up. The same listing says the extension depends on each site's page structure, which can change. Reload the page, check the extension for an update, then try a different extension.

Safari on a Mac

None of the three listings above mentions Safari. They are Chrome Web Store pages, and Language Reactor's names Chrome. If you want two written lines, open Netflix in Chrome. If you'd rather stay in Safari, use the audio-plus-subtitle pairing in the next section, or caption the sound from macOS as described after it.

iPhone, iPad, Android and TV

The listings describe desktop browsers. Language Reactor's says desktop and laptop computers, and none of the three mentions phones, tablets or TV apps. On these devices, two languages means one you hear and one you read. The Audio & Subtitles menu from Netflix's help page lets you set audio and subtitles separately, so you can play a show in Spanish audio with English subtitles, or the reverse. If you're watching to learn a language, see how to pick subtitles for your level.

On a phone or iPad, tap the screen during playback. On a TV, press up or down on the remote. On Apple TV, swipe up. The audio language list is also title-specific, so a show without a Spanish dub won't offer that pairing.

For system-wide captions on each of these devices, see live captions on every device. If you watch YouTube too, see two caption languages on YouTube.

Captions from the audio on a Mac

Both options in this section caption the sound your Mac plays. They don't read Netflix's subtitle track, so they work on Safari too.

Apple Live Captions is the built-in one. Go to Apple menu → System Settings → Accessibility → Live Captions and turn it on. Apple's Live Captions guide for Mac says it can caption audio coming out of the Mac or the microphone, and the microphone icon in the caption window switches between them. Audio is processed on the device. It is available only on Macs with Apple silicon and not in every language, country or region. It gives you one line of text in the spoken language. If it won't start, see Apple Live Captions on Mac not working.

Vocena is the pick when you want a translation under each caption line. The Mac app (macOS 15.5 or later) listens to the system audio, shows captions as the speech plays, and puts a translation under each line. The captions are free with no time limit. Translation is a paid feature (a one-time purchase or a subscription). Recognition and translation run on the Mac by default, and audio or text is uploaded only if you pick a cloud model. Vocena's onboarding recommends recognition in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Russian, and the real range depends on the model and the system.

Because the text comes from speech recognition, its wording won't match Netflix's own subtitles. It doesn't need a subtitle track in your language, which helps on titles where Netflix lacks the second language. Other Mac caption apps are compared in live caption apps for Mac.